his story is about man’s greatest friend ever! Many years ago about 14, I was the proud owner of a Labrador retriever named Casey. However she had a terrible disease known as diabetics since she was one year old. So as fate would have it she had a stroke at the age of twelve. On this night I came home to my hysterical 4 year old son John. He informed me that something was wrong with our dog and mom had put her in the cellar. So of course I rushed down to see what had happened. I knew instantly that she had a bad stroke and she was going to pass away. So I sent my son up stairs got a comfortable blanket for my dog a milk create for myself to sit on and waited with Casey to comfort her. Casey lie beside my milk crate with me for hours and at 4:00AM that morning crawled over to me, up onto my lap, turned her head into my arms, licked me and passed while I was holding her at that exact moment. To me, she was saying goodbye forever. This was the sadist moment I had ever been through in my life. My son missed his dog a lot and kept asking me week after week to go to the animal shelter and pick out another with him. However, I was not emotionally ready. Nevertheless, after much persistence he convinced me to go. On Saturday morning John and I drove to the animal shelter and did a walk through where they kept all the dogs. In the first kennel we saw a Labrador retriever identical to the one we had. John yelled out that he wanted that dog and the women in charge rushed over to help us. She let John know that the yellow sticker on the kennel meant the dog was already adopted but if it fell through that we could possibly try at a later date to adopt this dog. Of course John was anxious to get a dog so we moved on although we couldn’t find any dogs that John or I connected with. However, on our way out the door I noticed a big dog that was barking and growling at me. He was over 100 pounds and looked terrifying. In fact he made John and I nervous standing close to his Kennel. So I asked the women why this big dog that appeared at least 2 years old was still there. (I thought to myself who would ever consider adopting this dog). She made the comment that he was a good dog but was there a really long time and that this was his way of telling me to take him home. She went on to say how this dog had been abandoned when he was 6 months old and left at a gas station in town. However, the gas station could not keep him and that’s how he ended up at the pound. She said he was so cute and well behaved that they kept him all this time. As I began to walk away toward the door to exit she uttered the words “too bad about that dog”. She got my attention, and I asked what it was that she meant by saying this. She went on to say that this dog, (Gus she called him) was going to be put to sleep in the morning. This information surprised me so I turned and walked back to the kennel. And so it was that he was sitting there peaceful with puppy dog eyes that seemed as if they were begging me to take him home. I called John over to the kennel and for that one moment in time the dog they called Gus, both John and I knew was asking us to take him home. For John and me, it was clear that we had to give Gus a chance to live. We asked the women if we could take the dog for a walk in the woods behind the facility. She said yes and we could have him for about 4 hours and then had to bring him back. We took Gus on a long nature walk through the woods and all the way around to our house were we gave him some food to eat. John played and wrestled with him like he used to with Casey. Immediately I knew that Gus was a perfect fit for John and me. Gus was so well behaved and was so excited to be with us he seemed to glow with happiness. And John and I were just as excited and happy to have him too. John and I walked Gus back to the animal shelter and told the women to take the name plate off Gus’s kennel and put the name lucky up as we were adopting him and he was not going to be put to sleep the next morning. She was as happy about it as we were. About one week later after Lucky went to the veterinarian and had the necessary vaccinations we took him home. Lucky turned out to be the greatest friend John and I could have ever hoped for. He was a great protect dog for the house and was very protective of John. However, Lucky had one problem he could not stand to be in the 20’ by 20’ kennel that belonged to Casey. I believe that is stemmed from being at the shelter so long he just did not want to be in small kennels anymore. He would become just as upset when I took him across the street for grooming, as they utilized small kennels in between grooming dogs as well. Therefore, we couldn’t use Casey’s old kennel, but Lucky and I got lucky! A short time after Lucky began living with us our neighbor down the road was removing his 6’ high chain link fence from his yard so we stopped and asked what he had planned on doing with the fence once he took it down. He said he was going to take it to the dump but said if I wanted it, that I could have it. I told him I wanted it and loaded it into my pickup truck. Over the next few days I built Lucky a huge 500’ Square foot kennel with the chain link fence. In this new kennel lucky thrived, no barking, no anxiety and seemed happy as he never tried to get out of it during the 14 years that he occupied it. He loved his summers there! He built himself a soft mound in line with the sun and would sun bath for hours daily. Oddly enough he would maintain his mound frequently, it seemed like he had a bit of engineering skill in his blood. This became his favorite spot to lie during spring, summer and fall days. He had other unique habits too. I would put his favorite blankets and bones and stuff like that in a spare cloths basket in my room when he wasn’t using them. However, at night before bed he would go to these baskets for his favorite blankets and pillows and remove them for bedding, additionally taking clothing out of my cloths baskets as well. He would put them on the floor constructing a nice soft and usually round bed to lie on as opposed to my hard wood floors. I once told a friend about his nightly habits and bed rituals. He did not believe me. However, one night he was over watching TV with me and heard some ruckus in my bedroom. I told him it was Lucky getting ready for bed. He looked at me like I was crazy. He went to my bedroom door and watched Lucky preparing for bed. He accused me of teaching Lucky this, but the truth is I never did, he just began this ritual on his own. From the beginning he was unlike other dogs, he liked eating carrots, apples, and all kinds of fruits and veggies daily. He liked long rides in the car and wrestling with John and I daily. He would look over the house every night checking John’s room first and then the living room. Finally making his way into my room to get ready for bed, where he would sleep alongside me; in his own make shift bed. He did this without breaking habit for 14 straight years. He would only bark when someone came to the door he didn’t know but immediately after he figured out that they were no threat to us he would calm down to a tail wag. Lucky was heaven sent for John and they became best of friends over the years. In 14 years Lucky’s loyalty to his home and family never wavered. On Saturday April 7, 2012 Lucky got up happy as ever, ate went out to his pen on a beautiful spring morning at the age of 16. He curled up around his cool mound like he always had and passed away. When we found him John and I were devastated. The feeling, the pain, the hurt I felt when I found my friend Lucky had past cannot be explained in words. I began to think later If John had not goaded me into going to look for a new dog on that day at that exact time, Lucky would have been put to sleep that next morning. John and I would not have had 14 wonderful years with him. I believe that I was blessed to have been so fortunate to be at the shelter on that day at the perfect time to rescue Lucky. Maybe it says something about fate or grand design after all. Altogether, all I do know is that all dogs are distinct they have unique personalities and sprits like our own, and likewise that Lucky was very special. In the end, I wanted to honor and pay tribute to him. So I gave him a proper burial under the mound that he had made, in line with the sun that he laid under for 14 years. I could not think of a better end for him to remain in the spot that he loved and close to his family that he had been so loyal to for so many years. DAVID J BRAGGA April 7, 2012 Click here to Reply or Forward 6.16 GB (41%) of 15 GB used Manage Terms - Privacy Last account activity: 6 minutes ago Details kris0923 Add to circles Show details